CPT 003: The Calling
"I see the walls crumbling down and gradually, dawn is coming."
Dressed in all black, he was sitting in one of those black vans that his group used to get around with unnoticed. The boy with pale, yet unearthly cold and beautiful visuals peeked outside through heavily tinted glass and shivered. If it was for him, he would have made it so the winter would never come again. Throughout all these years, it was the time for preparations for the next album, for the next perfection that him and four other members had to take part in. New installments, new concept to bump people out of their dignity, pride and digits.
Not keen on going around in broad daylight, he was about to do something that their agency was absolutely against. He didn't care, though, because there was someone he had to check on, someone he had to see to get the comfirmation to his dreams, he have had throughout five past years. Dreams, which seemed to gain volume as this year was rushing past. "Chul, the box," this young man spoke in serious tone, taking ahold of the small, wooden box that was handed to him from the front seat. It was simple mahagon box with AEORA Entertainment logo engraved on top of the lid.
Opening it, his white, feminine fingers picked out first item and placed that transparent glass against his right eyeball, twitching for a second until the lense wrapped itself around this bright, skyblue orb. He followed the same routine with the other eye, and made disgusted face. He still wasn't used to this, even after all of this time, when they had to walk among citizens and pretend to be normal. Pretending to be human was a lot more work than being an idol. Luckily all of them were content to believe that these five, beautiful popstars were just using special make-up and lenses to make them exceptional and different. If they only knew the truth...
Then, with the brown eyes being installed, this young man covered his lower face with dark grey mask and settled same colored snapback under the hood as the rest of his clothes were. "Kid, I don't think it's a good idea! what if you draw attention?" His personal manager, Chul, spoke; more worried about their bosses finding out him being there with this kid rather than about the news about Pantheon X' member being spotted taking a walk in daylight streets. "It will be fine. I will be back soon." The only words he told to the chubby man in the driver' seat and smiling to himself under that mask. His bodylanguage stayed the same as usual - non-caring and cool, yet the heart that had lost its life a long time ago, was beating rather fast. He was certain that he could hear it echoing back from the walls. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
About to open the door and take a step outside, he was stopped by a sudden loud sound of a motorcycle coming towards the van. He froze, peeking out from inside and was splashed by the rush of a wind and snow all over his face. Certain that he saw two people riding this monstrous machine, and the little girl on the back seat sticking out her tongue at him and saying something along the lines like: "See you later, big bro." Wiping his face clean with right hand, he stepped outside into the light. He had the feeling like he had seen those two before, but where and when... Shrugging this burning feeling off, the idol walked off towards the house he was eyeing from the distance. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump. "Yohan! I still believe it is a bad idea!" Yes, he heard those words loud and clear, although he had already taken a turn into another street, pulling on a pair of leather gloves on the go. "Damn it! Thank to him I'll end up finding my doom." Yohan heard those words as well, as if he was right next to Chul, but the idol didn't stop and instead heading back, he continued to walk towards that two-story house, where lived the girl that kept visiting his dreamland. The girl who held the key of Snowflower. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
Yohan was about to walk up on that street right in front of that same house he had been looking for, but he suddenly stopped on the sound of someone rustling with the window' handles, pushing both sides open. Hiding himself into the shadow of the stone wall on his right side, he found himself in the embrace of a naked, thorny bush. Staring so intensly at the girl on the window, Yohan knew that it was the face of his own. A mirror reflection of himself, and his heart grew colder than it had ever been. Not remembering of how he knew her, or of why he felt such a strange pull towards her that he nearly stepped out of the shadows and called for her, without realizing that he was about to put himself in danger.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump...
About to do so, Yohan felt the phone vibrate in his inner pocket and he pulled it out, reading the message left for him by no other than Chul: "Come back now. If you don't show up for practice, you know what happens." He knew well enough that this coward was so afraid of losing his job, and most likely his life after hearing the truth of what had happened to all the previous managers of each member. Chul was foolish, and naive enough to take all of these rumors as truth, and it was best if he didn't know the actual reality of what would happen to him, if they let him go. Chul may have been incompentent in so many ways, but he was useful at the same time. All the previous managers were impossible to talk into doing what they were doing at that moment; thus, against his own will, he turned back. For another lingering moment, Yohan stole a glimpse of Hana's clotheted figure, holding onto a photograph. Words "I will find you" escaped into man's heart and stayed there without understanding it clearly. It was the beginning of where those simple, yet deep words would start to haunt him from day to day until it all ended.
Walking back to the car, Yohan felt sudden flash of pain in his chest and through his head, blinding him momentarily, causing him to bump into a wall nearby. Taking heavy breaths, Yohan felt as if his head was going to blow up, but with the cooling breeze that falling snow brought along, calmed him enough so he was able to move on.
"About time," Chul whined, leaning against the van and smoking a strong-scented cigarette, which Yohan loathed. "How many times I've told you to stop smoking that trash." Yohan was firm, but not worried. He wasn't concerned about his manager' health nor did he care less. Chul would be dead before dying of natural causes anyhow, Yohan had that feeling, but he was going to do his best so it wouldn't happen. There was no need to add more to this growing pile of corpses that AEORA Entertainment was hiding.
While his manager was busy getting rid of the cigarette, Yohan had sat into the car and into that soothing darkness, pulling off his mask, hood and gloves. Staring into the palm of his left hand, he knew that there was this burning mark, a scar as some would say, but he knew that it would glow if he used his powers. "Strange," he thought, "is she the right one? She wasn't glowing, though? But then again... why does she look exactly like that painting in my dreams? Why does she look... just like me?" Although he was confused, he closed his hand into a fist and leaned back, closing his eyes. The stinging pain he felt before was echoing in the back of his mind, warning of something he was about to experience, but he didn't know why or what. All he wanted to know was who was she and who he was, truly.
Chul was mumbling to himself, while the two of them were driving back to AEORA headquarters, when the guy suddenly asked with loud voice, remembering something. "Today is... Hey, do you know what day today is, kid?" Yohan was in a deep sleep, but somehow his lips moved and they spoke words that changed everything in the near future: "It's the day, when everything started and it's the day, when everything will end."